Hopes high for end to Sri Lanka war

It might be South-East Asia's unofficial capital of sex and sleaze, but the Thai resort of Pattaya will also host negotiations to try to end one of the world's longest and most vicious civil wars.

This morning at a naval base near the city best known for booze, bare behinds and bully boys, negotiations will begin on a deal to end the conflict in Sri Lanka, which has claimed an estimated 65,000 lives, displaced millions and just about ruined the island nation's economy.

After 20 years of war, hundreds of suicide bombings, the assassination of a string of political leaders and four failed ceasefires, there are real hopes that peace is close by.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, elected last December on a peace platform, has agreed to discuss anything short of the formation of a breakaway state with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, whose guerrilla fighters now control a swathe of northern and eastern Sri Lanka.

In April, Tigers' leader Velupillai Prabhakaran indicated for the first time that the rebels were likely to settle for a deal offering substantial autonomy.");document.write("

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Professor G. L. Peiris, Sri Lanka's Constitutional Affairs Minister and chief government negotiator, said at the weekend that war fatigue had brought a "seriousness of purpose" to the talks, which could move quickly from procedural issues to the shape of a future interim administration in Tiger-controlled areas.

The Tigers began fighting for an independent region for the country's Tamil minority in 1983 after years of discrimination and oppression from the country's Sinhalese majority.

Attacks on Sinhalese villages were coupled with devastating bombing raids in Colombo, culminating in an audacious raid on the international airport last year in which half the fleet of Air Lanka was blown up.

The Tigers' assassination victims have included Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa, both killed by female suicide bombers.